The Master Cleanse is designed to cleanse your body, aid in weight loss, reduce acne, bloating, gas, indigestion, aches, pains and fatigue. And just to improve overall health and energy – all by removing toxic internal waste that has been sitting in our bodies for years.

By letting the body rest from the time it normally spends on breaking down, digesting and assimilating food, the body can naturally spend time to cleanse itself.

There are many websites dedicated to the famous Master Cleanse, documenting experiences and best recipes.

Remember: Certified Organic ingredients are best as we are aiming to cleanse our body of toxic waste and chemicals including all the pesticides, herbicides and pollution we inhale and some may consume very day.

How to do a Master Cleanse:

1. Drink your Master Cleanse drinks every day for whatever duration of your cleanse: this depends on your level of activity, and ability to fast and rest on the cleanse. Fasting has been done for centuries by many cultures for its healthy benefits. It is a good kick-start to cleansing your body.

2. How long? This depends on when you choose to start your cleanse – during holidays or a busy work week. Remember that during a cleanse, rest is also important to relax your body and nervous system. If life is always busy, that is fine, any cleanse for any duration is better than none.

A start is just 1 day of liquids and/or light foods as in point 3 and 4 to gauge your energy. Persevere through your second day working towards a good juice/fluids fast with no solid food, and by Day 3 you will be feeling so much lighter and fresher.

A good week of cleansing a few times a year is common practice to rejuvenate your body and reverse any signs of ailment. The maximum period of a cleanse recommended by many practitioners is 10 days. If you can manage 3 days, you are on track. Don’t feel guilty for not staying on a cleanse longer. The idea is a guilt-free happy detox for whatever duration.

And enjoy it all happily, no stress or anxiety, accepting all that you do is fine and good. Stray off the path alittle? … thats ok – that is your 20%. Jump back on and rejuvenate with your 80% life-giving living foods and healthy habits.

After choosing more alkaline foods, lets look at some quick tips on what foods we ideally should eat together and foods we should eat alone.

The basis of food combining is that the body digests starch carbohydrates first using alkaline enzymes. Heavy proteins such as animal proteins require acidic enzymes for digestion, and take longer to pass through our digestive system.

Based on simple chemistry, combining alkaline and acid can neutralise enzymes, causing foods to sit undigested, fermenting in the body, building up gas and bloating. This is an acidic state which creates inflammation and disease in our once healthy bodies.

Jill Ettinger from the Organic Authority lists some quick and easy tips which we have also added to, so you will remember and most of all, use every day when choosing your next delicious meal. Thanks Jill!

6 Tips for Healthy Food Combining:

1. Fruits first or all alone, and all melons should only be eaten alone. They are nature’s candy; sweet, fibrous and full of all sorts of nutrients. They’re so good that your body wants to get them in your system fast, so they digest quicker than any other foods. This is great when you grab an apple as a snack. Fruits after a meal is not good. Fruits will get trapped in between slower digesting foods in the pipeline, which can cause fermenting, gas and bloating.

2. Proteins and greens. Animal proteins and starch do not mix. Vegetable proteins and starch are OK. Protein is a great way to feel full so that you avoid grabbing high energy sugary treats. Heavy animal proteins eaten with the wrong foods e.g. starchy breads, rice, pasta – can make you feel sluggish and bloated. Have a salad with your sandwich and avoid the starchy chips. Combined badly, the body will process the carbs (using alkaline enzymes) first leaving the proteins (which require acidic enzymes) without proper attention, causing major tummy aches.

3. Skip the sips. Liquid dilutes the enzymes in the stomach that are critical to digestion. While it’s important to stay well hydrated, drink an hour before or after your meal. If you simply can’t do without, take small sips. Never gulp.

4. Veggie Burgers. Starches need alkalinity to digest properly. Greens are the best source of alkaline foods. So whether it’s a baked potato or tofu sandwich, pair it with something green.

5. Think like your food. It may sound silly, but it works. Where do the ingredients on your plate come from? If one item was grown in the jungle, one from your backyard, something weird that looks like it was frozen and then deep-fried, it’ll probably end up feeling like your stomach is taking you on a world tour later. Eat like with like and head for the dance floor instead of the Pepto.

6. Soup, Salad, Starch, Protein. Memorise that list. If you eat your meals following that order, by consuming the easiest and quicker digested first, you’re less likely to regret a single bite.

So think alkaline, think clean meals, enjoying the 80% of healthy eating, whilst also indulging in the 20% of your favourite foods, guilt-free knowing that the rest of your good habits create a balanced lifestyle.

A healthy alkaline body feels – good levels of energy, has a clear mind to make decisions and focus on tasks at hand, has a good healthy appetite, does not feel bloated or too gassy, has regular easy bowel movements, sleeps well and wakes up feeling rejuvenated.

An acidic body leads to inflammation, potential heart disease, arthritis and a list of other life-threatening ailments due to the imbalance of acid and alkaline in our body’s fluids and tissues. It is simple chemistry. Our body cannot sustain a healthy equilibrium in an acidic state.

Some symptoms may be feeling thirsty after a meal, or feeling prickly skin that sweats or becomes red and itchy. Internal inflammation can visibly manifests itself through our skin – skin disorders, rash, eczema are all signs. Or a good indication is a red colour on the tip of your tongue maybe even swollen, or sore. A heavy whiteish or yellow coating on your tongue each morning tells alot about a bad diet. You can feel the difference when you eat a fresh alkaline food instead of an acidic food.

For optimum cell function, we require more alkaline foods which are also high in nutrition.
A balance of 80-20 alkaline-acid is the ideal ratio to boost your immunity, rejuvenate your hard-working body, cleanse toxins and organs and recharge your energy.

However our modern day eating habits or availability of more processed, higher fat, higher salt, higher animal and higher sugar types of foods have caused our normal healthy pH to become more acidic.

There are many sources of information available on alkaline vs acidic foods and also various ways of how the pH of foods are tested – testing ash residue of the food or the sugar levels of foods and its effects on our body.

A good website we found described an informative chart and some simple strategies that may help to gradually balance your pH level:

The food chart below for Alkaline and Acidic Food is divided into three categories:
1. Foods you should eat in abundance
2. Foods you should eat moderately
3. Foods you should try to avoid.

The table below helps to identify various foods’ pH-level. Each one is assigned a number which mirrors its approximate relative potential of alkalinity (+) or acidity (-) existent in one ounce (28.35g) of food. The higher the number, the better it is for you to eat.

Its been a busy few weeks. Spring’s renewing energy has us all starting or finishing off projects to start something new, cleanse out the old, with the intention of practising healthy daily habits that we also want to enjoy.

Here are some tips on how to have more fun during your day and actually boost your health at the same time too.

1. Good yummy food – we all know this, but lets enjoy it and enjoy good food that helps us reduce stress.

What are these good foods? Foods that create an alkaline pH in our body e.g. fresh fruit and vegetables, lemons instead of oranges (interesting?), unprocessed foods that do not leave you thirsty. More on this in our next post on What Foods are Acid vs Alkaline and Food Combining.

Foods that create an acid pH cause inflammation, which creates more stress in our body, and a greater inability to cope with stress. Examples of inflammation are arthritis, red blotchy patches and a variety of skin disorders which is the way our body tries to release inflammation – through our largest organ, the skin. Try to reduce the intake of dairy, highly processed sugars and processed foods, processed meats full of nitrate, red meats, fried foods, alcohol and badly combined foods.

Though if we do consume these acidic foods, try to balance the overall meal with more alkaline foods to balance your pH with 80/20 ratio of alkaline/acidic foods. Also more on this in our next post on What Foods are Acid vs Alkaline and Food Combing.

Don’t worry if you indulge, enjoy it, don’t feel guilty creating more stress. At least sticking to the 80% healthy, 20% not-so-healthy is a good aim for your week’s meals. Better achieving the 80% than none at all by dwelling on the hot chips, and giving up on a healthy diet. Enjoy the 80% and enjoy the 20%.

Indulge: If its too gourmet or an extra dollar here or there, go for it if possible. Compared to other not-so-good spending habits, splurging a little extra on that favourite meal is not too much to ask of ourselves. Not only will it leave you happy and content but it is our life-sustaining energy source, so savour every morsel of your must-have meal of the day.

And that must-have meal might just be hummus and crackers which is the delight of my young niece’s day, or a juicy cucumber with its clean flavours which her brother absolutely loves. What about an organic sweet carrot dipped in your favourite dip of tahini, garlic and cannellini beans = good protein, fibre, beta carotene and a variety of other vitamins and minerals.

Finally, lets try for organic. Even better, a low sugar and even dairy-free meal, as there are many alternatives around that are absolutely delicious e.g. Organic Dairy-Free Coconut Milk Ice Cream. Try it for a change.

2. Exersise – this is definitely in the top 3 along with food and sleep to de-stress our body and mind.

A daily bounce around in a dance class, stretch and strengthen with yoga or pilates, relaxing with qigong or tai chi, or a good run, walk or bike ride plus a few bench presses thrown in are all great ways to de-stress our mind, stretch out tight muscles and calm our nervous system.

Once you have decided to spend the next 30-60 minutes of your day for pure fun – the first few breathes are a release of all the anxiety built up from a busy schedule. Breathe. Once our mind has the focus on pure fun for the next moments, be in the present, in tune with your body, breathing in new energy, releasing stale air to detoxify, energise, stretch and relax sore muscles from sitting or standing all day.

Tip on posture: sitting cross-legged infront of the TV is much better than sitting in another chair again, after your day of sitting in chairs or standing. It will open the hips and work the core muscles.

Remember: good posture in the core centre region of our body creates good alignment above the centre to our head, and below the centre to our feet. No more flat feet or protruding chins straining our neck muscles, no more hunching or slouching bellies causing lower back pain. Slightly tuck the pelvis under, activate your tummy muscles (lower and upper), look straight ahead, sit your head on top of the spine and feel your back and shoulder muscles ease alittle, by using your core tummy muscles to also help in every day posture.

Draw and pull an imaginary string up through your spine through the top of your head and feel your body and vision take a new perspective in a relaxed and stable posture.

The head weighs 5-6kg. Imagine trying to hold onto a big rock tilting on the edge of a cliff, all the strain and energy required to hold onto this rock from falling over the edge. This is what our neck, shoulder and back muscles feel every moment we tilt our head forward for lengthy periods of time. Chin to chest stretches are fine, though how long do we hold this bad head posture looking at a PC or laptop. Scroll your content up to the top of the screen to align your head and eyes up. Even better, position your monitor so the eyeline looking straight forward is at least in the centre of the monitor or slightly above.

3. Sleep more and earlier for ‘larks’ or be fine sleeping late if you are in ‘owl’ – we’ve talked about the Science of Napping and the Sleep Diet in past posts and we cannot under-estimate the importance of a good sleep for our pure happiness so we can have another fun-filled and healthy in mind and body day. Sleep balances cortisol levels in our brain so we can better manage stressful moments. Less than adequate sleep raises cortisol which creates inflammation, making it even more difficult to fall asleep.

‘Larks’ sleep and wake early – so prepare and unwind early with the natural setting of the sun by lowering light sources, less bright light from PCs and TVs, listening to soothing music and eating ideal foods as posted here. Putting in these good routines for the majority of the week will allow plenty of rest for those few late nights we indulge in.

‘Owls’ work best later in the day to late at night. We are not all the same, so once we understand our nature and of others, accepting the variety of daily routines allows us to work in harmony with each other and ourselves. Give that ‘owl’ in your life some quiet time in the morning to enjoy their slumber time.

4. Laugh at your mistakes today – oh silly me, lets not dwell on things that do not turn out as we would like them to, or should. In reality you’ve nearly made it there, and the next time you try, you’ll know how to with clearer insight. We are all perfectly imperfect.

5. Laugh – yes just laugh, have fun, and enjoy a good laugh with friends, colleagues or on your own. Of course, lets not laugh at another’s expense. There is so much more to observe in life, we are sure to find a funny moment somewhere in there.

6. Focus on reachable goals within our control – breathe and think for a moment, what is important today? Plan a realistic daily schedule where you are not set up for unnecessary disappointment. Feel good with what you have accomplished today.

7. Hug your loved ones – even a short 5 second hug, the longer, even better, is an instant stress relief, lowering your heart rate and any lingering anxiety. A hug deepens and slows our breathing and mind from the frantic pace we set ourselves each day.

8. Do something you have been putting off … for ages! We only have so much brain space to jam all the ‘to do lists’ we give ourselves without frying a few nerves along the way. What a relief it is when you cross even one point of that list. You are progressing, slowly and surely.

Call that someone, browse and dream through tropical island photos, clean up that corner, fill in the paperwork, go for a long-deserved walk, write in your diary by hand, watch a favourite movie or bake a cake ; ) !

There are many more great tips, though if we could just do these top 8 at least every other day, we’ll be feeling better without the week flying past in a blur of chasing tasks to do. Demands on our lives are greater than ever, though we have control over most of it if we make the right and healthy choice.